Escaping Fate

by Tinalynge

  Standing beside him, the tree and the snake were completely surprised. The snake’s eyes were filled with utter disbelief; however, it soon changed to laughter. Looking at the large tree, its eyes filled with tenderness as it nodded gently.

  “Go out and explore the world with our little Cao Cao,” the snake said with a gentle voice. “As long as you have Cao Cao with you, you are welcome inside this valley. But if you ever arrive without him, I can guarantee that you will die an excruciating death.”

  Nodding, Xu Min had already guessed that returning without the small snake would be suicidal. However, hearing his words still caused him to feel slightly worried.

  The small snake had fallen asleep as though the conversation had nothing to do with him. The only thing it felt before going to sleep was that this human, who had given him herbs, was a good person. The little snake was but a child. He instantly felt safe, so he went to sleep as the medicinal herb helped the wound on his forehead heal over.

  “Feel free to come here whenever you need to, but don't take too many medicinal herbs,” the snake warned. “Although we’ll allow you to take a few, you can only fill your satchel twice a year. We need the rest of the flowers to reach the final stage.”

  Hearing this, Xu Min’s eyes grew larger as he understood that he was allowed to take more medicinal herbs. He no longer felt as though he should fear the snake and the tree. With a deep bow, he turned around and picked up multiple healing herbs. Although he picked quite a few of them, he still made sure to not take more than what he could fit in his satchel.

  Currently, he was incapable of placing them in the bag as the small snake was in it. He just tucked them into his robe before exiting the mysterious mist-filled valley.

  Travelling through the top of the trees, Xu Min quickly found the way back home to the nest he had created earlier. On the way, he had come across another Flying Hare which he executed swiftly. This time he brought the beast with him towards the nest. As he inched towards the nest, he started to hear an uncomfortable amount of rustling leaves. This was not something done by one creature or human. It was clearly done by a whole group or a horde.

  As he inched closer, he was suddenly moving much slower. His eyes were alert and his senses stretched to their limits as they observed everything around them. Feeling the change in Xu Min’s soul and vigilance, Cao Cao slowly woke up and his eyes stared into the distance. He was just as prepared as the older boy who was trying to stay cautious.

  As he slowly moved closer, he noticed that the sounds did not come from the ground. Instead, it came from the nest that Xu Min had created. He soon saw a group of seven men come into the view. He instantly stood and slightly retreated.

  Cao Cao’s voice sounded out within Xu Min’s mind. ‘Why retreat?’ However, the young man still did not know how to respond to the question in the snake’s mind like Cao Cao could speak in his. He did not know how to communicate without needing to open his mouth. Instead, he just shook his head as he retreated.

  ‘Oh right,’ a disappointed voice sounded out in his mind. ‘You are just a weakling. I could have dealt with the troublemakers if I did not have to nurture the wound on my forehead.’

  Hearing the voice, Xu Min almost let out a snort only to stop himself in the final moment. Shaking his head, he started to move away from the location where he had been before. After travelling through the trees for a few more hours, he finally found a place that seemed devoid of humans. He built a small nest for the two of them to stay in. Throughout the stealthy escape, Xu Min had brought the Hare with him. After finally setting up another nest, he found more big stones and started cooking the beast.

  As soon as Xu Min had brought the stones into the nest, Cao Cao had been incredibly curious as to what was happening. His eyes twinkled with curiosity as he saw how the beast was being cooked on the stones.

  At first, he had only observed the procedures because he had never seen anything like it before. As the meat was getting cooked and the scent filled the air, Cao Cao started salivating. He constantly asked whether or not he was allowed to have a small bite.

  Xu Min was quite worried because the scent of the cooked meat could attract the attention of others. When he looked at the small snake, he felt that the snake was in no way as weak as him. He believed that the snake would not fight for the sake of a weak human,but it would indeed fight for the food it was looking at.

  Chuckling slightly, Xu Min looked at the snake whose eyes were glued to the meat. He could not help but laugh at the snake. Although he laughed at him, he spent some time looking at the rank of the snake. He was astonished to notice that the aura that it exuded was far stronger than even the Three-Star Warrior he had come across earlier.

  Having shared his blood with the beast, something had happened. Xu Min felt as though he too was capable of communicating with the beast without speaking. When trying to do so, he realized that he needed to use another part of his brain he had never used while speaking naturally. It took him some time before he managed to perfect it.

  During this time, the young man quickly understood that Cao Cao was getting bored. He had bought himself time by giving the young snake more and more cooked hare meat. This seemed to work perfectly well. After countless mistakes, Xu Min finally understood how to speak using nothing but his will.

  Looking at the hare meat that was left, Xu Min could only sigh heavily as he found some dried meat from his satchel and ate it together with a jar of fine wine. It turned out that the entire hare had long since been eaten by the small Cao Cao.

  ‘You aren’t that bad,’ the snake said with a tired voice as it slithered next to Xu Min. Seeing that the human was seated with his legs crossed and his eyes closed, he noticed one speck of gold after another appearing out of nowhere. The small snake quickly coiled up on the lap of the young man and closed its eyes contently. Xu Min spent the night cultivating, much like any other night.

  Chapter 18 - Flee!

  The night went by smoothly. Xu Min spent his time cultivating while Cao Cao slept on his lap. A few times during the night, a few beasts would come close by. Cao Cao would open his eyes and quietly look through the dark night, only to close them as soon as the beasts vanished into the dark forest.

  As the sun rose in the sky and rays of sunshine were beginning to shine through the leaves, Xu Min finally opened his eyes, and the golden specks around him vanished. As he stood up, he forgot about the small snake on his lap. It fell to the floor of the nest, and Xu Min instantly bent down to pick him up.

  This snake was much stronger than Xu Min. Not only the snake, but also its parent was a being that he did not wish to insult. Thus, as soon as the juvenile snake landed on the ground, Xu Min instantly picked him up, gently patted his jade green head, and apologized mentally.

  ‘Cook me some more meat tonight,’ the snake said with a sneaky smile on its face. ‘As long as you cook me two beasts, I will forgive you.’

  ‘You’ll grow fat,’ Xu Min replied. Internally, he wished that he was capable of capturing two beasts. He suddenly stood up and noticed that something was not the way it was supposed to be.

  ‘Cao Cao,’ he called out with his internal voice. ‘Can you feel anyone close by? I feel as though something is wrong.’

  The snake raised its head. As his tongue slithered in and out of his mouth, he looked at their surroundings.

  ‘There are quite a few humans around us,’ he finally answered. His face seemed apathetic about their presences. However, Xu Min’s heart skipped a beat, and a cold sweat appeared on his back.

  ‘How many?’ he asked silently. He did not wish to hear the answer, but he knew that he needed to know. He suddenly remembered the numerous mercenaries he had seen the night before at his old nest. He could not help but curse himself for cooking food even though he knew that there wa danger close by.

  ‘They are still looking for us. You can just escape through the treetops the same way you did last night,’ Cao Cao said as though he thought it wa
s that easy. Right now, Xu Min knew he had no choice other than to try and escape.

  ‘Let us play a game,’ the juvenile voice suddenly rang out, ‘I know you want these mercenaries dead, so let us play the game of who can kill the most!’

  Hearing that, Xu Min felt like knocking the snake out. Although the snake was strong, it was unlikely that it was strong enough to defeat the mercenaries by itself. The black-haired, young man knew perfectly well that he was incapable of dealing with more than one of even the weakest mercenary.

  ‘Right,’ the snake said, as though he had read Xu Min’s thoughts. ‘I forgot you are so weak. How about I say that the more I kill, the more meat you have to cook for me!’

  ‘Cao Cao, are you certain that you are capable of dealing with these many mercenaries?’ Xu Min finally sighed, as he looked at the little snake who laid in his arms. Had it been its father, he had no doubt that it would be able to defeat them. However, he did not think that the little snake could handle these many mercenaries. Unless absolutely necessary, Xu Min decided that he would not start a battle.

  Standing up, Xu Min rushed from one branch to another as he traveled across the treetops. Fortunately, none of the mercenaries below had noticed him. For some time, he rushed towards the outskirts of the forest, the only location where he could exit the forest.

  As Xu Min went further and further towards the outskirts of forest, the trees became more and more sparse. The distance between the trees increased, making it harder for him to keep travelling on top of the trees until he had to travel on the ground.

  What shocked him was that the ground was littered with people. For once, these people paid no attention to each other. Instead, they were in large groups, and seemed to be making their way into the forest, one group at a time.

  He was quite curious as to the reason why these many mercenaries entered the forest and started to search like mad men. Xu Min decided to keep to his plan. A few moments later, he left the safety of the large trees. Once more, he started walking towards one of the cities.

  Having left the forest, Cao Cao was filled with astonishment as he perched on Xu Min’s shoulder. He looked at everything that was happening around him and observed the barren land in front of them.

  ‘There are no trees here!’ Cao Cao said with astonishment in his voice. ‘Are we going to travel through areas like this? I like this. It’s new,’ he commented. Xu Min just chuckled and kept walking on the outskirts of the forest. He continued until he reached one of the small mercenary villages.

  Seeing the village in front of him, the chuckle grew into a smirk. ‘Be careful here,’ Xu Min warned the snake on his shoulder, ‘This is a village, a home for humans. We need to go in and sell some of the herbs your father allowed me to pick.’

  ‘A village?’ the juvenile voice was filled with curiosity. The black-haired youth laughed out loud and shocked a few of the humans who were rushing towards the city.

  ‘Right, just stay on my shoulders, and I’ll let you see the entire world,’ Xu Min said, laughing. The snake felt how its heart quivered with excitement. Coiling itself around his neck, the two youngsters went into the village. They walked on the main road while looking at shops one after another that had been set up on the side.

  On the side, there was an inn with loud and cheerful noises coming out from within. Next to it, there were various shops. Some shops sold street food, while other shops focused on armor and weaponry.

  Xu Min was looking everywhere to try to find a pharmacy. Soon enough, he quickly noticed the drooling snake coiled around his neck as it was looking at one food stall after another.

  ‘Just wait a little,’ Xu Min laughed. ‘I need to sell these flowers first, and then I’ll have money to purchase as much food as you want.’

  The young man was not used to selling items, and he was not certain that he knew exactly how much medicinal herbs were worth. However, he knew that they were worth quite a lot. They were so much that he should be able to feed the snake until it burst.

  Xu Min did not plan on selling all the herbs he had gathered. Even if he sold some, he should still have enough money to fund his trip for another distant forest.

  While the black-haired young man had been focused on his plans for the future, he found himself in front of a store where the scent of medicinal herbs wafted out. On top of the door, a big sign with the word ‘Pharmacy’ was visible.

  Smiling, Xu Min stepped in through the door as his eyes shone with excitement. As he moved towards the counter, the snake on his shoulders lifted its head and looked at everything with great curiosity.

  Although Xu Min went towards the counter, he gazed around him. He was observing all the medicinal herbs shown around.

  Picking up four herbs, Xu Min placed them on the counter. Behind the desk,an elderly man looked at them with an astonished look on his face.

  “You picked up all of these from within our Forest of the Snake?” he asked curiously. Just as that man was curious, so was Xu Min when he found that the entire forest was named after a snake.

  The elderly man adjusted his glasses slightly. He looked at Xu Min once more, his eyes widening in surprise as he saw the snake which was resting on his shoulders. Saying no more, he took the plants and started observing them.

  “These plants are quite old,” he started. “Definitely over fifty years old, I would pay twenty gold coins for each of them.”

  Hearing that, Xu Min’s eyes widened. Although he knew that they were worth quite a bit, he had never expected it to be that much. He quickly accepted.

  Pausing for a moment, he wondered whether he should say that there were even more herbs. But before he did, he managed to stop himself as he noticed some long glances sent his way by others within the room.

  Taking the gold coins, he quickly left the room. The first thing he went towards was a street stall where he purchased food worth one whole gold coin.

  Looking at the food, the eyes of the snake widened in amazement. His little tongue slithered constantly as though he could taste the food from the scent alone.

  Xu Min smiled as he saw the reaction.Deep within, he was pleased with the fact that the snake would be so easy to manage as long as he had access to food.

  The plan was quite simple. This snake demon beast was without a doubt incredibly strong. He was so strong that even Three-Star Warriors would be nothing next to him. Making friends was the most important part for now, something which Xu Min fully understood.

  Cao Cao was still only a juvenile. How could Xu Min not know that the older the snake grew, the stronger it would become. His father alone had an aura similar to that of Overseer Wang Li. It was obvious that although it took time for him to grow, it was definitely beneficial for Xu Min to befriend the little snake quickly. If that required him to spend money on food, then so be it.

  Extending his hand, Xu Min took one skewer of meat after another and lifted it to the snake. He was coiled around his neck and hummed in happiness. His eyes shone with delight as the food was eaten at a rapid pace.

  Seeing this, the black-haired man could not help but chuckle a bit. After feeding all the meat he had bought to the small snake, he looked around the various locations before he decided to head towards the inn. Although he was capable of returning to the forest and make another nest, he quickly decided on getting a room at the inn. He needed to see if he could come across some information about the large number of mercenaries who had appeared out of nowhere. He especially want information about why these men had decided on entering the forest in small groups of people.

  Xin Min was walking towards the inn. He noticed that even here, with all the shops selling items such as weapons and armories, a lot of mercenaries were present. They were there even in the typically quiet pharmacy was filled with people who were buying elixirs in bulks.

  After looking at the men, he was unable to conceal a frown as he noticed that many of the men in front of him were not mercenaries. They were wearing uniforms or armors adorned
with random family emblems. These were not mercenaries, but instead were soldiers. A group of young men were leading these soldiers, the geniuses from the younger generation.

  Seeing this many families present, Xu Min could understand that something was going on. However, he was smart enough to not try walking towards any random man on the road to ask what was happening. Instead, he moved towards the inn and entered into the dim light.A smirk appeared on his face as he looked forward to the information he would be able to pick up from the bustling shop.

  Chapter 19 - Mysterious Treasure

  Entering the dimly lit room, Xu Min needed a moment before his eyes could adjust to the light. As soon as they did, he walked towards the counter where a lovely young lady was cheerfully chatting with some customers within the shop.